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Help with tenant

Dear fellows,

I have a property that has cigarette smoke smell that is being managed by an agency. The lettings agency arranged me a tenant and the tenant signed a 12 month fixed agreement, but the tenant apparently made an offer conditional on taking the smell out.

However, the lettings agent only said to my managing company that the tenant wanted the flat cleaned - which we did.
Now the tenant is asking to leave the flat saying he can not leave in the flat with the smoke smell. He has a letter from work doctor saying it is bad for his health and even has the document from lettings agent in written where he actually asks to take the smoke smell out.

As you may imagine, i don't want to lose the rent on the flat, but he is saying he is going to court has he can't leave in the flat as it is affecting his health.

Can I still get the full rent if he leaves? Will he be able to win in court?

The stench of cigarettes can be hard to shift - it depends on how long the previous occupant smoked for and how heavily. A house we bought once still had overflowing ashtrays everywhere from the guy we bought it from, and it stank; it took 2-3 weeks with the windows open, new carpets, new soft furnishings and redecoration before the smell went. Also, I was asked to decorate an empty property recently to get it ready for renting out, in which the owner had (literally) smoked himself to death. Some of the ceilings took sugar soap, Zinsser 123 sealant, four coats of brilliant white paint - and still looked off white. The carpets were only two years old and hardly used (the guy wasn't very mobile), but had to be chucked (professional cleaning couldn't get the smell out).

You should have claimed the cost of deep cleaning and refurbishing from the previous tenant's deposit (didn't you notice that it stank of smoke when they checked out?), but I expect it's too late now. Deterioration and dirt left by tobacco smoking is not 'fair wear and tear'.

Your agents sound a bit useless. They should have been onto these things.

How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?Homer Simpson

Health issue aside, the landlords agent has made a 'promise' on behalf of the landlord. The landlord has failed to comply (for whatever reason) so the landlord is in breach of contract. Whether it is enough of a breach for the tenant to break the contract would be up to the courts to decide - but as a landlord I wouldn't risk the time hassle & cost of taking it to court with (imho) a high chance of losing.